The door closed and I groaned, wrapping my arms around my face.

"That was an interesting conversation." Saigon brought the box of desserts over to the table. "I'd be lying if I didn't admit I'm kind of excited." He sucked in his lips. "It's like we're playing house." He flashed me a cheesy grin.

"I just lost my mate, and my alpha and parents are a little too excited about mating me off to someone else."

"No offense, but Willow wasn't anyone's favorite person." He broke a cream stuffed pastry in half. "Excepted for you, I guess." He offered one side to me.

"Hmm... I don't like sweets."

Saigon scoffed. "Liar." He started eating the other half. "I've been around werewolves who hate sweets. They look repulsed the whole time I'm eating. You've been staring at this box for the last twenty minutes."

I picked at my slice of pizza.

"Look, I'm eating it," said Siagon. "I'm not going to judge you for liking it."

Picking up the dessert, I examined it. "What is it?"

"A cannoli. It's for an Italian place down the street. They're so good." He crunched into it.

I took a bite. It was wonderful. Pulling the box closer, I looked at the other items. I spotted something with chocolate drizzled over it and put it on my plate.

"Do you mean it?" ask Saigon.

"What?" I broke off a piece and tried it. So good. I hummed to myself.

"Us kind of dating?"

I licked my lips. "Come here."

He scooted closer. Grabbing his chin, I kissed him. Saigon sat there, wide-eyed. I smiled and went back to eating.

"So?" he breathed.

I shrugged. "Better than kissing Willow."

"Really?" He leaned closer. "But she's your mate."

"And she rarely ever wanted me to kiss her. She didn't want pups, so over the last two years, I could count how many times we had sex on one hand. She was never an affectionate person." I swiped my finger through some spilled cream as he frowned at me. "Don't look at me like that, you're making me feel weird."

Saigon simply grinned. "You can kiss me whenever you want. I'm up for it, and I'll love every single one." He clasped his hands on the table.

I licked my finger clean. "Alright then, I'm open to seeing where this goes. For some reason after Willow left, all I wanted to do was come here and see you. So she either left me so messed up that I'm desperate, or maybe we're meant for each other."

"We're meant for each other," Saigon stated.

"Hmm... how are you so sure?"

"Beta senses." He gave me a smirk. "It's complicated. Only a select few are chosen to hold such power."

I shoved his arm. "Don't be an ass." Clearing my throat, I swallowed hard. "I don't want to rush into anything. Being with a guy—" I shifted in my seat. "It still feels a little weird."

"I'm not going to drag you upstairs and ravish you, Archer." He looked at me, unimpressed.

"Like you could," I scoffed.

"I think you're underestimating the power of your future beta."

I laughed as he grinned at me. "You really are such an ass."

***

(Saigon)

"Archer is with you?" said my dad.

I nodded and held the phone to my ear with my shoulder as I stirred the spaghetti sauce. "Yeah, he showed up on my doorstep."

"Darius knows about this?"

"Yep, he came with Peter and Rupert. Rupert looked ready to punch me through a wall at some points, but I think they both like the idea of someone actually giving a damn about Archer for a change.

"Was Willow really that bad to him?"

"She ran away," I stated. "How heartless can you be?"

"True." He was silent for a moment. "When Titus and I had that one fight and I went to my parents, it hurt him a lot. The physical can heal, it's the mental part that you have to be careful with."

"Hmm... we're going to try."

"Try what?"

I swallowed hard. "Dating."

"Oh my god! Are you serious? You're dating."

"You're talking really loud." I adjusted the phone and made sure Archer was still upstairs. "It was part of the arrangement. If he stayed, I wanted to try."

"Are you forcing this on him?" My dad's tone changed. "You better not be guilting him into it."

"I'm not," I groaned. "I still have feelings for him and if he stays with me... I just want to try. Darius said Archer could call him at any time and he'd come and get him."

"Hmm..." My dad didn't sound convinced.

"He kissed me," I said softly.

"He didn't? Saigon Perri, you better not have—"

"It was him," I replied sharply. "He told me to come closer and then kissed me. I didn't do anything."

My dad laughed. "Wow, I guess Archer really does want to give it a go. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks."

"I don't know if I can keep this a secret from your grandmother. The holidays are coming up. Oh! Can I invite Rupert and Peter to Thanksgiving?"

"Dad," I groaned. "You don't need to go that far. You and grandma will scare them off."

He scoffed. "We will not. Peter has been my friend since before you were born and Rupert is practically a brother to Titus. Besides, if you're dating Archer, your grandparents should get to meet him and his family."

"I prefer if we waited."

"Tell that to your grandma."

I sighed. She wasn't going to let me say no. She'd have all three of them there even if she had to drive to Northern Ridge herself to pick them up.

"What if they don't want to?" I tested to see if the noodles were done. "Archer isn't fond of humans. They make him nervous."

"It's your grandmother. They've met before. She won't take a no from them either. She'll call Darius and start asking about why his pack members don't like her. We'll have the whole pack at their house if we aren't careful."

Grumbling to myself, I glared at the pans in front of me. There was no way out of this. "I get it. I'll ease Archer into the idea slowly. Don't ask Peter and Rupert yet. Who knows, next week Archer would say: yeah, no, I'm not into dudes and leave."

"I'll wait until it's closer before saying anything."

"Thanks." I turned off the burning. "Can you tell father for me? I don't want to have another awkward conversation. The last couple of days have been filled with plenty of them."

"No problem. I'm really happy for you, sweetheart."

I smiled to myself. "Don't get my hopes up."

"It'll take Archer some time, but I think he'll come around and see that you're exactly who he needs. So, mind your manners and keep your hands to yourself."

"Alright, alright, please stop. I'm not going to attack him in his sleep. Everyone thinks I'm some horney, pervert. I'm not going to do anything."

"I didn't mean it like that," he laughed. "Just don't rush it. Take it slow."

"I'm going to. Um... dinner is done, so I'll call you later."

"Have a good night and don't fall behind in your schoolwork now that you have a house guest," he chuckled.

"Bye, Dad." I shook my head.

"Bye."

The call ended and I let out a sigh. I'd be getting another phone call the moment my grandma found out. Running my hands down my face, I tried to figure out how I was going to do this without scaring Archer off. Thanksgiving included extended relatives. If we made it to the end of November, Archer might dump me after meeting my family.

"God," I muttered.

Footsteps sounded down the stairs. Archer entered and gave me a small smile. "It smells good."

I finished up getting everything ready and moved it to the bar.

"What is this?" He dipped his finger in the tomato sauce. "It's like thick blood. It smells weird." He tasted it.

"So?"

Archer nodded. "It's good. What are those?"

"Meatballs."

His face lit up. "Humans eat this?"

I nodded. "My grandpa's side is Italian. My grandma learned from her sister-in-laws and taught me a few things. It's not perfect by any means. I didn't make the noodles fresh." I dished some onto plates before putting the sauce on top. "But the sauce and meatballs, I made myself."

Archer took a bite and slurped the noodles. "It's really good."

"I'm glad you like it."

"Do you have to go to school tomorrow?"

I nodded.

He moved things around his plate. "When do you plan on getting back?"

"I'll be home by two-ish. My last class for the day is over at 1:30."

Letting out a deep breath, Archer went back to eating. "No need to hurry. I'm not going to leave the house. I've had my fill of humans."